Booking boom signals Kaiko¯ ura revival
Kaiko¯ ura’s tourism sector is fast recovering, with new figures from Airbnb today revealing it to be 2019’s top worldwide “trending” destination on the travel booking website.
The South Island town, devastated by earthquakes in 2016, has recorded more growth among travellers who find accommodation using Airbnb than any other destination. The site lists places to stay in more than 81,000 cities in 191 countries.
This, combined with the recent relaunch of the Coastal Pacific rail journey, signals a booming year ahead for the town famous for whalewatching and crayfish. The Airbnb numbers show interest for bookings in Kaiko¯ ura in 2019 increased by 295 per cent year on year. Xiamen, in China, was second on the list with a 283 per cent increase, while Puebla, in Mexico, came in third, with a 240 per cent rise in bookings. Normandy, in France — which in 2019 marks 75 years since the D-Day landings — was fourth with 229 per cent.
The full list reveals travellers are looking at more off-the-beaten-track destinations to explore next year, ranging from a vehicle-free island off the coast of Xiamen, to the Outer Hebrides in Scotland, to Uzbekistan, Ghana and Mozambique.
And Kaiko¯ ura is not the only place on the list returning to popularity after a natural disaster. Bookings for America’s Great Smoky Mountains are up 191 per cent and searches are up 190 per cent, placing it fifth on the list. Two of its most famous trails reopened in October after wildfires.
Airbnb’s NZ and Australia country manager, Sam McDonagh, says: “Kaiko¯ ura is such a unique location
. . . it’s great to see Airbnb guests are . . . helping [it] rebuild following the earthquake.”